SHARING THE NEWS

Sharing the news with our family and friends was very special to me and I wanted each event to be memorable.  The first person I shared the news with after telling my husband was Kelly @ Kelly's Korner.  We had lunch plans the day after I found out I was pregnant and I just could not keep it to myself.  Kelly asked how I was doing and it just came out.  We both cried and I think that she was amazed with my news.  I know I was still in shock on that day.  I just wish we would have gotten a picture together during our lunch date.  Oh well we have many more lunch dates/play dates in the future.  We than planned a trip to Sioux Falls, SD to visit my sister Amie.  It was great timing because my mom and my sister Jessyca also planned to go to Amie's House that same weekend.  We went to Amie's house on October 9th, 2009 and when we arrived on Friday it snowed on Friday night and with the snow my mom and sister Jessyca were at risk of not making it to Amie's house.  They were driving from Montana and all the way from Montana to South Dakota it was snowing and the road conditions were not great.  They however did make it and I was so happy that they were able to make it.  Since they didn't arrive until the day after we arrived we had to wait a day to share the news.  So about an hour or so after they arrived Chad gave each of the girls a wrapped present.  He told them they had to open it together and when they opened it they were completely amazed and shocked.  Amie said, "I can't believe you were able to keep this from me!"  The gift from Amie and Jessyca was a shirt that said Aunt to Be and my Mom's Shirt said Grandma to Be.  We all cried and hugged.  We did take pictures of all of us together on that special day. 

Next stop sharing the news with all our friends.  It was important to me that we share the news with our friends in a special way that they will not forget.  I invited all of our friends to our house for a dinner party on November 7rh, 2009.  Little did they know that the dinner party was really a coming out party.  We had wonderful food and conversation before the big announcement.  Chad invited all of the adults to come into our living room as we were going to play a game.  Chad handed each couple a envelope and told them not to open it until he counted to three.  One..two...three and everyone opened it.

 This is what they opened

I remember looking at our friends faces and the excitement they had for us.  I know that many of them had been waiting for this day just as much as we have.  The pictures below will tell the story, but after the big announcement it was filled with lots of hugs and many tears. 

Before the big announcement!

After the big announcement!

I wrote our story which I shared in this post and Chad gave each one of our friends a copy!

Thanks Kim for taking all the wonderful photos!  They are a perfect!

We had one couple that had a prior engagement and could not make it to the party so I had to figure out how to get them over to our house before the party so we called them and asked them if we can borrow a ladle for the soup I was serving and I remember them telling Chad, "don't you have neighbors?"  They however did bring the ladle and Chad and I went out to their car and shared the news with them.  I remember Alex saying Praise the Lord and Anthony was amazed and shocked that we were able to keep it to ourselves for 12 weeks.  They did come by later in the night to celebrate!

 
I feel so blessed that all of our friends in NWA were able to join us for this special night.  It will be one I won't forget.  I get asked this all the time, how did you manage to keep it a secret for 12 weeks?  Well it was not easy, but it was important to me that I hear the babies heartbeat and make it to the safe point in my pregnancy before sharing the news. 
My amazing friend Ashley did a post about that night a few days ago and if you have time stop by her blog and read it.  It is great to hear the story from her point of view. 

After sharing the news with our friends we had one very special couple to share the news with and that was with our Arkansas parents Mary and Greg.  So this past weekend we went to Bee Branch, Arkansas to share the news.  Chad and I purchased a gift for Mary and we put the same card in her gift bag.  She opened the card first and she was completely in shock she had no idea.  My hubby is one to always call Mary and share all news with her ASAP, but this time he was very good about keeping it a secret and it was the best seeing their faces when they read the card.  Lots of tears and hugs followed.  It was a great weekend of discussing all things baby and Mary was a great mom taking care of me and making great food.  I love being at her house because she always has fruit and great food that we eat all weekend long.  I didn't get any pictures...sorry!

So that is it!  I hope that it was not too boring.  Sharing the news was a big milestone for us.  We won't forget the special moments we had with our family and friends.  Now that the news is out this is all beginning to feel real!

Tomorrow I will share the news about my first baby appointment and how I am feeling.  I hope that all this baby news is exciting for you as it is for me.  Have a great Thursday!